On Nov. 8, several students from The Mary Schiller Myers School of Art traveled to the Toledo Museum of Art for a school sponsored bus trip.

Students were able to view sections of the permanent collection as well as the “Between Light and Shadow” installations by contemporary artist Anila Quayyum Agha.

Agha, a Pakistani-American, created three gallery-sized installations that housed intricate and ornate structures situated in the center of the room with one single form of light housed within each. 

Her installations made full use of the space and represented her exploration of questioning exclusion and belonging. 

“My art is deeply influenced by the simultaneous sense of alienation and transience that informs the migrant experience,” Agha said in a quote from Toledo Museum of Art’s website.

The Toledo Museum of Art was especially high on Myers’ lists of possible places to visit due to the museum’s extensive collection and education program. 

(Image via Melissa Olson)
Myers students viewing Anila Quayyum Agha: Between Light and Shadow – Hope.

Freshman Jessica Palmer, an art education major, thinks young students who attend the museum for its programs are future artists in the making. 

“I love that the museum has a section devoted for the kids to interact with different works of art and to inspire their own art,” Palmer said. 

Melissa Olson, manager of student affairs at Myers, said the school is “incredibly fortunate to have generous donor support to be able to offer bus trips to students in our majors regularly.” 

Olson recommends these trips because they give students a unique opportunity no matter what their major is while leading to new experiences and potential connections with other students. 

This is not the first time students from Myers have traveled, as the school visits museums and galleries outside their immediate region each semester. 

“We find that when students have the opportunity to see artwork away from the classroom it shifts their perspective and reinvigorates their studio practice, which is especially important late in the semester as deadlines and finals loom,” Olson said.

To join any future bus trips sponsored by Myers School of Art and benefactors, students are required to have a primary major in art and must be enrolled full-time at The University of Akron.